Sticks And Stones
by strawberrysunsets
Summary: It's one year after the second National Treasure movie, and a lot has happened since. Ben and Abigail are engaged, Riley is getting over his most recent long term relationship, and Ben is hiding a secret from his fiancee. Little does he know, Riley is also hiding a secret; but this one is big - much bigger than anyone ever imagined.
1. The Girl With The Mahogany Hair

_Dear Diary,_

_It has been a big year for Abigail, Riley and I. For starters, Riley had gotten two new books published, based off the adventures that he had with Abigail and I. One of the two had even appeared #3 on the New York Times Reading Challenge. The other, sadly, got hardly enough reviews on newspapers and magazines to produce a threequil. Fortunately, Riley never gave up, and he has been writing and editing another book for months now. He, as well has Abigail and I, hope he will get a second chance._

_Although, sadly, not everything that happened throughout the year had been good. Rileys girlfriend for six months had dumped him just a few days ago, and he hasn't seemed to have gotten over it yet. Sometimes he would just lock himself up in his room all day and not even answer to anyone when they called or even came up and knocked on the door. Once, I was so worried that I barged into the room without Riley's consent and found him sitting formalling on his bed and staring at the wall on the other side of the room. Everyone has been worried about him; but everyone also seems to have their own problems. _

_The third big thing for this year is the wedding. Yes, Abigail and I are engaged. Luckily, our wedding is almost fully prepared, and we have three months until the big day. Abigail has been fretting and worrying about everything from the colour of the flowers to the length of the lace on her gloves. She isn't the only one who is excited. Since the day that I got down on one knee and said my little speech about our time together with our future plans, and Abigail said yes, I have been smiling 24/7, no matter what annoyed me throughout the day._

_Last but not least, me. I have had a tough year. Beside worrying about my younger colleague, and preparing for the year, I have had much more on my plate than the other two. Of course, they care about me, but they both seem to be caught up in their own perfect little world; forgetting that I even exists. Since I had been given the terrifying news of my inoperable cancer, I have been trying to live his life to the fullest – which, for me, is spending as much time with Abigail as I possibly can. The only problem is, she doesn't know about it, and she has grown suspicious. Even Riley has promised not to tell Abigail about my cancer, even if that means lying to her about how tired I looks in the morning. She had, unfortunately, over-dosed me with coffee in hopes that I would be more active and cheerful. Abigail sadly thinks the stress of the wedding has brought on my depression. _

_After all, we have had no signs of bad omens, according to Riley, so they're wishing and hoping for the best. All is well, for now._

_- Ben_

* * *

"No, no, NO!" Abigail screeched into her mobile phone. "Medium-dark pink flowers? I asked for light-medium maroon flowers!"

Ben rubbed his temples. He was starting to get a headache from all of this yelling, but he was in no position to tell Abigail to keep it down. He was undoubtly sure that it was her time of the month. He did not want to get on her bad side right now!

"I don't care if they look similar! Did I ask for similar? NO! I asked for them to be the exact same as I saw in the store last Monday. EXACTLY. THE SAME. Do you understand me?"

Riley sipped his cup of coffee and then poured some hot water into the coffee that he was preparing for Ben. "Why did I even accept the offer to live here…" He shook his head to himself and wondered. Of course; they needed him. Without him, who would make their morning coffee and eat their left-over pizza when they were full?

He actually enjoyed being their puppy; not only for the free pizza and rent.

He brought the two cups of coffee and carefully placed them on the table. "Here ya go, Ben."

Ben smiled and took a sip from his cup. He sighed.

"How can you say that? How dare you tell me to try a different colour! How do you know that I won't want to puke after seeing it?"

Riley motioned to Abigail that her coffee was on the table, and she quickly put her hand up as fast as lightning, telling him to wait.

Riley sighed and flopped on the couch next to Ben. "This is going to be a tough year."

Ben just nodded, sipping his coffee again and not saying anything.

Riley wondered if Ben regretted popping the question to Abigail. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just tired."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Ugh!" Abigail groaned loudly as she pressed "end" on her phone. To Riley, she sounded like a lion. He was starting to get scared of her.

"Abigail?"

"What?" Abigail snapped at Riley.

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little bit? I mean, they're only…"

"They're only flowers? ONLY FLOWERS?"

Riley was quite shocked that Abigail knew what he was going to say. Perhaps she knew that he was getting annoyed by her complaining.

"I want this wedding to be perfect! Why is everyone ruining it?"

There was a sound coming from outside.

"What the heck is that?" Abigail asked curiously.

"I'm pretty sure that's someone knocking on the door…" Ben sipped his coffee again.

They hardly got any visitors, so it was a very rare occasion to actually hear someone at the door.

"Is someone going to get it?" Abigail turned at Riley and Ben, who just stared back at her.

"It's your house." Riley shrugged.

"I'm tired…" Ben complained.

"I'm your fiancee!" Abigail said quietly, obviously quite hurt.

Ben sighed again and went to the door.

"You're waring him out, Abs." Riley shook his head.

"Oh, shut up, you!"

"Uhm, yes." Ben said to the two strangers at the door. They looked very… formal. Very elegant. This was also something that was unusual to the three. "He's here; yes."

"I think they're talking about you…" Abigail softly whispered and nudged Riley.

"Hello, Mr Poole." A woman with shoulder-length mahogany hair, who was dressed in black greeted him.

"Uhmm…" He bit his lip. What the heck was going on? "Hello…"

"We're agents for the FBI, and we ask you're permission for you to come with us for questioning," The woman told him.

"Marnie, you don't really believe that we need to ask permission for this type of thing, do you?" The man next to Marnie chuckled. "This is how we do it." The man lunged at Riley and pushed him up against a wall, hand-cuffing him before he even knew what was going on.

"Don't, Meg!" Marnie begged her partner. "You don't know if he's guilty yet."

Meg? _Riley thought._ I've never heard of that name for a guy.

"His fingerprints are all over the glass at the National Museum of Petrology!"

"The NationalMuseum of Petrology?" Riley muttered to himself. He had never heard of that place. "Is that in New Jersey?"

"Quiet, you!" Meg pushed Riley out the door, guiding him to the vehicle as Ben and Abigail watched knowingly.

"You see her hair?" Abigail whispered to Ben. When he nodded, Abigail told him, "I want my flowers to be that colour."

"I'm afraid you will have to attend the questioning, just in case you have anything to do with the burgulary." Marnie told them. She smiled fakely and tried to usher them outside of their mansion.

None of them knew anything about the burgulary, or about the museum.


	2. Taken For Questioning

The room that Meg took Riley into was dark… really dark! Riley almost ran into one of the chairs in the process of finding light.

As Riley found a seat and sat down hesitantly, Meg shined a large lamp onto his face, making him squint and put his hand above his head. "Now… Mr Poole. This is a very serious matter. Do you have any idea what you have gotten yourself into? There could be very serious consequences to this. You could be fined a ridiculous amount of money, go to jail or even do community service for the rest of your life. It's the judges' choice, basically. So, I'm going to make a deal with you."

Riley had absolutely no idea what was going on, but he didn't want to say the wrong thing. Meg was, to say the least, scary. Riley just nodded cautiously, so Meg continued. "If you don't want to go to prison, which will probably be fifteen to twenty years at the minimum, tell us everything you know. Everything."

"Uhm…"

"Don't push yourself, kid. We won't rush you."

"The thing is…"

"What?" Meg asked, leaning closer to him on his desk. Wow, this guy really wanted the details.

Riley shuffled in his seat. It was obvious to Meg that he was quite uncomfortable. "I honestly have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

* * *

"Mr and Mrs Gates, is it?" Marnie asked Ben and Abigail.

"Uhh, no. Not yet." Ben told her.

"Aw, congratulations!"

"Ugh, thanks. I think."

They were both in Marnie's office, waiting for Meg to finish questioning Riley. Marnie was just new at the FBI so she was asking them a few already written down questions. Ben was biting his nails (well, what was left of his nails after being in a waiting room for over twenty minutes) and shaking a lot. Abigail was too busy gazing wonderously at Marnies' short, red-brown hair and thinking how nice the colour would be on her wedding flowers. She knew that the cake would be a light pink, so why not make the flowers a little different? A little more… creative, perhaps? A purple mahogany would do quite nice. It would possibly do even nicer than white roses… and, goodness, Abigail loved white roses!

"Has Mr Poole been acting a little… strange lately?" Marnie looked up from her paper and glanced at the two.

"Of course not!" Abigail snorted. "Why are you even asking these questions? What's going on?"

"Mrs Gates… erm, Miss Chase, sorry… we cannot tell you specifically what is going on until Riley gives us the 100 per cent truth. We need him to cooperate fully before we start questioning his closest friends; you two. We sincerely apologize for the inconvienience, although…"

"I don't understand," Abigail sighed. She looked like she was about to cry. Ben pulled her into a hug. "What did he do? Why does he deserve this… after… after."

"Listen," Ben said. "Marnie, is it?"

She nodded.

"Riley has been through a lot in the past few weeks, months actually. He may be a bit down, and not himself, but I assure you he would never do anything against the law. Ever! It's just not him, you know?"

"Yes," Marnie nodded. "We know. Meg and I, after taking a look at Mr Pooles' record, believe that Riley may have been framed, but we are not entirely sure. It seems that only his fingerprints were on the glass case that held the diamond inside."

"Diamond? What diamond?"

"We believe that your friend has stolen a very rare, extremely valuable and strong diamond. One of the strongest in America."

* * *

"You mean the country America, or the continent?" Riley asked Meg, who was describing the diamond incident to Riley just as Marnie was to Abigail and Ben.

Meg chuckled. "You're funny, kid. Too bad hilarity won't get you out of jail."

"Mhmm..."

Meg sighed then leaned back onto his chair. "Tell me."

"What?"

"Tell me about Alexander Poole."

Riley stayed quiet for a few seconds, and then bit his lip. "Alex…"

"Tell me everything you know about you're brother, Riley."

That was the first time that Meg had called Riley by his first name, instead of "Mr Poole" or simply "kid". Was he actually sympathizing for Riley?

"He's my twin. I've never really told him about anyone 'cause… 'cause… I dunno, I thought they would hate me. Man, I feel so bad, but I'm just embarrassed about him… I haven't forgotten about him. I think about him everyday; I worry about him all the time. I don't even know if he's still at the Springbloom Mental Infirmary. I've never even told Ben what he did."

"What did he do, Riley?"

"He… he…"

"He what? What did he do, son?"

Son… when Meg said that, a dozen tears streamed down Rileys' face. They've been waiting to come out for years, and they finally did. He finally had the courage to not only cry in front of others, but let them know that he cares. He was much more sensative than anyone ever knew. He couldn't take it anymore – the pain, the misery… but most of all, he couldn't keep this secret inside forever. He knew he would eventually tell someone about his lonely past. He knew he would brake. And that's exactly what he did – he broke.

"He… he killed my father. I never forgave him. He went to court and almost went to jail, but he told some lie about how his psychologist thinks that he has schizophrenia, or something. I don't think he has a mental illness. I know he always hated our dad, but... I dunno. I never believed that he has schizophrenia. I think he's just plain evil. You know those stories and legends about evil twins? I think they're real, after seeing what happened to Dad. After everything...well, he's been in a mental facility ever since."

Meg pushed a box of tissues closer to him.

Suddenly, the door handle to the room rattled, and someone was unlocking the door. It opened to reveal Marnie, with Ben and a fear-stricken Abigail by her side. Marnie looked worried.

"What is it?" Meg asked.

"Alexander, he…"

"Alex?!" Riley asked.

"Yes, we have just gotten some horrible news."

"What is it?" Meg asked. He looked more curious than worried.

"We were right, Meg. Alex could have done it. We just got a call from the Springbloom Mental Hospital. Alex is missing. He's been missing for almost three days."

* * *

_Dun, dun, duuun! XD Did you guys like this chapter? Review please :] trust me, it gets much more exciting in the next few chapters. :0_

_- Lollie (:_


	3. Working In Teams

_Here's what I promised you - the third chapter! :D This is more about how Marnie & Meg plan out how to catch the perpetrator and Riley spilling out more of his hidden secrets. The next chapter will be about their journey to track down and spy on Ian (_and _Alex, if they end up finding where he is hiding xD) I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)_

_- Lollie_

* * *

Meg paced around the lab, circling Marnie, who was dipping a small sheet of paper with a copy of Riley's fingerprint into water and dabbing it carefully with an ink pen. He was waiting, quite impatiently, for her to once again test his right index finger and thumb. "Almost done…" Marnie bit her lip, carefully tracing and dabbing the sheet of paper with her eye-dropper every so often.

Ben, Abigail, Riley, Marnie, Meg and a few other agents were in their lab trying to match up the fingerprints on the glass case to Alexanders'. Unfortunately, they had no luck. Although Alex's finger prints weren't exactly the same as Rileys', the ones on the glass case matched Riley closer to his brother. Each fingerprint seemed to match Riley better than Alex.

"We have once again tested Mr Riley Pooles' fingerprints." Marnie sighed to Meg.

"Good, good; is it matching?"

"Sadly, yes; his fingerprints match the ones on the glass case." Marnie looked saddened.

"Damn!" Meg turned away. "You're positive?"

"Yes. Although all evidence leads to Alexander being the one at the museum last night, we have no authentic proof. Even though Rileys' credit card record shows him taking money out of his account at a Thai restaurant in DC."

"Isn't that enough proof?" Ben asked hopefully.

"No." Marnie shook her head. "You see, it could have been Abigail, for instance, that used Rileys credit card. Even if you deny it, there's still a chance that it could have happened. That could have been your fool-proof plan; to pretend Riley was in DC while he was actually in New York. "

"I have a question." Riley rubbed his neck. He hasn't quite gotten used to the idea that the FBI think he stole a diamond. Why the heck would Riley, out of all people, want to steal something of that value? He already had loads of money still in his bank from the Templar Treasure. Why would he take more?

"Go ahead." Meg sighed. "We already asked all of ours."

"Actually, now I have two questions."

"Shoot." Marnie smiled. Her smile comforted Riley. It made him feel like their was still hope – that he still had a chance to prove that he didn't commit the crime. It was a wonder how Marnie could say optimistic while everyone else in the lab had either given up or was biting their nails, like you would in a scary movie. Riley was the viewer who was shaking on the edge of his seat, right at the back of the cinema.

"First of all, do you two believe that I did it."

"We did at first, but most of the evidence concludes to the fact that your brother committed the crime…" Marnie told him.

"Even so, they are your fingerprints." Meg sighed. "But what would they be doing on a glass case in New York?"

"Is it possible that someone is framing him? Would it be Alex?" Abigail asked Marnie.

"It is probable, although it couldn't possibly be Alex. How would he get your fingerprints if he was locked up in a hospital?"

"B-but… he wasn't." Riley stuttered.

"What?" Marnie asked.

"Didn't you say that he escaped three days ago?"

"Yes, but –"

"Couldn't he have gained access to Rileys' fingerprints secretly?" Ben asked.

"Yes, I suppose that may be possible." Meg muttered. "Although why would Alex want to travel all the way from New York to Washington, and then back to New York again? It just doesn't make sense…"

"If you don't mind me asking, did Alex have some sort of relationship to anyone that you know of? Someone he was close to? Family, perhaps?" Marnie asked hopefully. She really needed the answers to solve her first case!

"No, not really…" Riley bit his lip. "Sorry. I can't think of anyone, besides Mum… But she lives in Florida. She hasn't visited him or even called him since he killed Dad."

"Hmmm," Meg thought for a moment. "There must be someone who knew him. Someone who teamed up with him at one point. Is there anyone that you know that has been introduced to Alex? Or perhaps you've simply just mentioned Alex to them?"

"Uhm, there is one person…" Riley sunk down lower in his seat.

"Who?" Marnie asked.

Ben and Abigail were both staring at Riley. Who would he have told? He hadn't even let either of them know, and they were his best friends! "Ian Howe."

(Insert Line)

"What?" Oh, dear. Riley did it this time. Ben was mad – really mad! "You told that scumbag about your brother? You hadn't even told me!" Ben snapped.

Riley knew that Ben would be upset that he told Ian before he told him. He started to sob.

"I didn't mean to! It just slipped out one day, so I ended up telling him everything! He was actually sympathetic when I told him, so I thought he wouldn't tell anyone. But then he betrayed us… I regreted telling him, so I didn't tell anyone else. I'm sorry, Ben. I didn't mean to hurt you or anyone else. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"What do you mean?" Marnie asked Riley. "How did he betray you?"

"It's a long story." Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "Riley, Ian and a few other guys were helping me uncover The Charlotte."

"You're the guys that found that ship? Along with some billion dollar pipe?" Meg lifted his head up, thinking.

"Yes." Ben nodded. "Ian wanted to steal the Declaration of Independance, in hopes that he would find the Templar Treasure."

"That sounds kind of hard to believe…" Meg looked Ben up and down. He wasn't sure whether to trust his words. After all, why would someone want to steal the Declaration of Independence? He had heard of rumours about people wanting to examine it illegally; but to steal it? That was unheard of.

"Yes, it was hard to me to grasp the idea as well," Abigail sighed, "But Ian kidnapped me a few times since then for answers. He's down to do anything. I wouldn't trust him at all. I think he's framing you, Riley."

Riley lowered his head in shame and exhaled loudly. He sunk down in his seat once more and looked at Ben, who was biting his lip and staring at the bench he was leaning on. "Ben?"

This time it was Ben with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Riley. I'll catch him; even if it's the last thing I do."

"Actually," Meg stepped up from the bench he was leaning on, his arms crossed and his eyebrows fussed together, "that is not permitted. The FBI will handle this; don't you worry. Although…" He tilted his head and shrugged. "We have to keep Riley in our custody. After all, we have no proof that he _didn't_ do it. I'm not even sure if you're telling the truth – and I'm an agent! We will catch him… or them."

"Them?" Abigail shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean 'them'? Who are 'them'?"

"It's obvious that either Ian or Alex, whoever committed this crime, are working in a group."

Marnie nodded. "Yes, and to make sure that they are not, Meg's team will investigate Ian, and a few other agents including myself will search for Alex. We _will_ find out who did this. The perpetrator never wins we Meg and I are in charge. Never."

"I love your optimisim," Ben pointed out, "but what if we don't find them. What will you do then?"

"We'll get that sorted out when the time comes." Meg told him confidently. "After all, we're as ready as they will ever be."


	4. The Nine Lives Of Riley Poole

_I hope you guys like this! I quite enjoyed writing the kidnapping scene... is that bad? :P Please, pretty please review! PLEEEAASSEE :D_

_- Lollie_

* * *

"Achoo!" Riley sneezed, almost falling off of the couch. He was watching his all-time favourite movie; Inception.

Riley dropped his head onto his boomerang (or, as he liked to call it, his 'sick') pillow. He pulled the blankets close to him and yawned, snuggling up to his covers.

Riley hated being sick, but most of all, he hated being away from his friends when he needed them the most.

The FBI agents told him to relax, (although that was quite hard when you were under surveillance 24/7. He had a tracking device on him, so he couldn't leave the 1 kilometre area around his house. Luckily, Ben house was quite close. And even though he wasn't supposed to be there, he broke the law. That wasn't a first, though!)

but he just couldn't relax. He was worried. He was worried about his friends, his family, the agents… even his brother. Ben had told him to worry about himself instead, but that was even harder. That was impossible for Riley!

Ben and Abigail went to some stupid party and left him all alone. Well, not really. Riley had their spare key and broke into their house to watch Inception. Crazy, right? Not for Riley. He wanted to stay in a large, warm house to watch a few movies. He was positive that they wouldn't mind. After all, he was sick. He needed a few adventure movies and blankets. Plus, Ben had a never ending supply of popcorn, corn chips and salsa. It was time for Riley to make his famous dish: Popcorn Nachos. Or, as he liked to call it, La Popchos.

According to him, he would sue whoever stole his 'infamous' idea. Abigail would say, 'anyone could come up with that', or ' it's not even trademarked, Riley'. But Ben would just shake his head and smile at his immature, idiotic friend.

"Achoo!" Riley sneezed for the hundredth time. He picked up a salsa-soaked corn chip and plopped a few popcorn pieces on the top of the chip, shoving it into his mouth like he was a hungry bear.

Bring, bring, bring!

"What the hell is that?" Riley took a few second to realise what the sound actually was. He picked up the phone, and before he could say a single word, a familiar voice on the other end chuckled, "Bless you, Poole."

and croaked a small, "what the hell?" How did that weird person on the other end of the line know that he just sneezed. The phone went silent, and Riley shook it a little, not understanding what was going on.

"How did…" Riley gulped. "Is someone watching me?"

"Correct for once." That was a strange thing to say, but it was even stranger that it was coming from the kitchen… _inside_ the house.

Riley stood up as his head snapped toward the kitchen. There was a dark shadow staring at him evilly. Riley couldn't make out the face, but he knew who it was. "What do you want, Ian? Why are you even out of prison?"

"Heh," Ian chuckled, "you should be more curious about why I'm here."  
"Oh, I'm curious all right…" Riley said, obviously trying to stall time so he could think of a smart plan.

Ian smirked. "Curiousity kills the cat, Riley. You know that."

"Yes, but that cat stills has eight lives left…" Riley slowly sneaked away from the kitchen, toward the back door. Unfortunately, Ian was much too quick for him. As soon as Riley made his fast-as-lightning move and tugged at the sliding door, Ian lept at him, knocking them both to the ground.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" Riley squirmed and tugged, he even tried to knee Ian in his private parts, but that didn't work out very well.

"You know you can't beat me, Poole." Ian slapped him with the back of his hand, making Riley whince in pain.

"I can try!" Riley hesitantly lifted his bloody hand from his cheek and poked Ian in the eyes.

"Yaaahhh!" Ian lept off of Riley, who jumped backwards and sprinted for his life. Just when he turned a corner down the hall, a vase came flying from behind him and almost hit his head, as it smashed the wall next to him. That didn't stop Riley, who just ran even faster.

Ian took out his gun and slowly crept around the house. "I know you're still here, Poole." He was right. Riley tried to open the front door, but it was locked. He had no key and didn't have the time to kick it open, because Ian was right behind him. Riley ran up the stairs just as Ian made it to the living room, looking around carefully like a lion stalking his prey.

Riley opened the door to Ben and Abigail's bedroom and slowly closed the door with a click. He crept around the large room, looking for a sign – anything that could help him hide. The closet? Too easy. Under the bed? Too cliché. It was useless. He now had an excuse to yell at Abigail, the 'clean freak', for her Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. "Why, Abi? Why?" He whispered to himself. Then it clicked – he could hide under the desk! Riley pushed the computer chair away and dived underneath where the chair was meant to sit. He then pulled the chair back in the compartment in order for it to not look suspicious. Suddenly, just as Riley managed to keep still and not move the desk or chair, Ian bashed the door open and held his gun up in the air so Riley could see it.

"Oh, Riley." Ian tsked. "You don't think I'm alone do you?" A few other of Ian's followers walked up next to Ian and searched the room.

"You can't run from us." Powell told him.

Riley gulped. Unluckily for him, Ian has hawk hearing. "Hmm…" Ian smirked as he pushed the computer chair further under the desk, winding Riley as it hit him in the stomach.

'Oomfph!' That was the only sound Riley made as Ian dragged him from under the desk and lifted his gun above his head. It came down suddenly, knocking Riley out cold.

* * *

"That was an amazing party, Ben." Abigail grinned as her fiancee closed the car door behind her.

"Yes," Ben grinned and looked down to the ground. "It was…"

"So, uhm…" Abigail bit her lip. "Do you think the agents found Alex yet?"

He knew it. Ben knew that she would bring that up. Abigail was so fixated on making sure that Riley was safe. She didn't even want to leave him alone at his own house while they went out!

"I don't know, Abigail…" Ben sighed. "Don't worry; he's probably inside our house right now. You know how he gets when he's alone. He needs to watch all of his favourite movies on our big TV."

"Are you sure? I didn't think he was allowed to leave his house."

"You know Riley; always breaking the rules…"

"That may be true…" Abigail shivered anxiously as Ben unlocked the front door.

"Ben, wait!" Abigail noticed something slipped under the door. "What's that?"

"It looks like a note…" Ben unlocked the door and stepped inside the house, picking up the note. Abigail closed the door behind them and wiped her feet on the mat. "Oh no…"

"What is it, Ben?" Abigail asked hopefully. She had hoped it wasn't anything serious.

Ben gulped, pushing back tears. "They have Riley…"


	5. The Search

_I DO NOT OWN NATIONAL TREASURE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN ALEX. THANK YOU!_

* * *

Ben read the note aloud as Abigail bit her perfectly manicured nails furiously.

_"Dear Mr Gates and Ms Chase;_

_We have Riley. In order to get him back, you must first solve this riddle:_

_Where the sun is shining,_

_But the people are not._

_Where Villains aren't Villains,_

_But they do stir the pot._

_The Offense is Offensive."_

The last words shocked Ben the most.

_"If you don't solve this riddle, _

_We will keep what we've got._

_- Your faithful friend,_

_Ian Howe."_

Abigail gasped. She couldn't believe that Ian had taken Riley!

Ben pulled her into a hug and she weeped onto his tux.

"What does that mean…" He thought out loud.

"Maybe… m-maybe…" Abigail wiped her tears. "It's a very hot city, b-but people aren't happy."

"WashingtonDC?" Ben suggested.

"Yeah… 'cause the city is always packed in the summer full of tourists, a-and the residents don't really like tourists…"

"Of course!" Ben widened his eyes.

"And the villains part?" Abigail asked curiously.

"The SpringbloomMental Hospital…" Ben whispered.

"Of course!" Abigail cursed herself for not realising sooner. "Because Alex is posing as a patient, but he's a criminal. So he's still cooking up evil ideas! But…What does the rest mean? The offense is offensive bit? And why is it capitalized?"

"Uhm," Ben thought for a moment. "We should probably take it to the FBI agents."

* * *

"Maybe you should ask for directions…"

"Maybe you should shut up, Marnie."

"It's just a suggestion!" Marnie put her hands in the air, showing her innocence. Marnie and Meg were on their way to New York, to the SpringbloomMental Hospital, to find Riley. Ben and Abigail told them about the riddle, where Ian had said he had Riley. They presumed Alex was involved, so they travelled to New York.

"I don't need suggestions, or directions!" Meg glared at the foggy road in front of him, squinting so he could see better. "Damn, fog!"

Marnie sighed, resting her head on the dashboard. "This is stupid. We don't even know where he went. He left the hospital four days ago, Meg! He could be at the other side of the country by now! He might even be in Austria or Switzerland for all we know!"  
"My theory is actually accurate." Meg snapped, his eyes not leaving the unclear, rocky road in front of him.

"Oh yeah? That Ian and his gang are still in the city they were last week, hacking and beating people up, with no one bothering to tell the FBI? I don't think so, Meg. Even if you do find them, our backup are busy in _Seattle_. You're not invincible, Meg. No one is."

Meg slammed his foot on the brakes, checking out a sign that had told him where he was. "If no one is invincible, then Ian isn't. We'll find him. Our backup are more powerful than Ian could ever hope to be."

"But our backup is in _Seattle_!"

"Not for long."

"What?" Marnie asked, confused.

"Look at that!" Meg pointed to a sign that said "Welcome to Springbloom: Where Crime is a Criminal."

"We're here…" Marnie looked dumbfounded. "But what does that even mean? Crime is a criminal? And why is Criminal capitalized? Do they not know how to spell?"

"It's a clue…" Meg explained.

"What?"

Meg turned to Marnie, holding his breath while he thought. Marnie pulled out the note that Ian had left and read it aloud.

"Where Villians aren't villains…" Marnie gasped. "Here! It's here!"

"Yes…" Meg thought. "But what does 'the Offense is offensive' mean? Why would they write that twice if it led to the same place?"

"Uhm… to rhyme?" Marnie guessed.

"I guess we're just going to have to do it the old fashioned way, and find out ourselves."

* * *

"This, my faithful friend, is the key to our lock. It is the only thing that will help us gain access to the military base. It will allow us to be in control of everything , and everyone. Even the government will be scared of this."

There was a long silence. "What is it?" Riley asked. "It just looked like a stone." What could a stone possibly do?

Alex walked in between Ian and the crystal and shook his head. "It's a bomb."

"A bomb?" Riley gasped. He wasn't shocked, or even intrigued. Riley was simply scared. He was scared for his life, for his friends, for his family, for his country… For everyone. But most of all, he was scared for Ben. The man who never gave up on him. The man who risked his life every time Riley got into trouble. The man who loved Riley for who he was, not what he could do. Ben deserved to die naturally, with his friends by his side; not by being blown up in Alex's attempt to control the US government.

The last thing he wanted was someone close to him to get hurt – or worse. Riley was sure that he would never let anyone hurt Ben. That was the least he deserved, but it was something. He tried to shift his weight and move to loosen the duct tape around his wrists, but that was no good. It only made it hurt more. His ankles were tied around a wooden chair with rope, and he was pretty sure he was going to have rope burn after this.

"Does that nail it for you, Sherlock?" Alex spat at his twin. That certainly snapped Riley out of his fairy land and back into reality. Riley attempted to put his duct taped hands up in mock defeat, but that only made the gun clutched to his abdomen tighten toward his flesh. Even though Ian was threatening Riley, he just bit his lip and stayed quiet.

He wasn't sure it that was a good idea. He didn't want to hurt anyone… he just wantd treasure. That was all he ever did want – money. So what, he was greedy, but that didn't make him a murderer. He just put treasure before people, that was all it meant.

Alex was the complete opposite of Riley, and even though Ian wanted to punch Riley in the face and throw a chair at his face, he was still a much better person than his brother… and Ian knew that. But _why_ was he working with him?

Riley was the brains; Alex was the strength. Then it snapped. Ian needed someone smart, very smart. Instead of getting Alex to break into the base, why don't you get Riley to hack into it? That idea was much safer, and caused less damage. The only problem was… how would he get rid of Alex? That man was utterly _crazy_!

"Why do you need a bomb?' Riley asked quietly, almost as if he didn't want to know the answer.

Instead of threatening Riley like he usually did, Ian just answered him. After all, what was the point of ignoring his questions if he wanted him to help, anyway?

"To gain access." Ian answered, also quietly, in his British accent.

There was a deafening silence. "To gain access to what?"

"The world!" Alex smirked evilly.

"So you're just going to threaten the US government into thinking you can blow up the world?"Riley raised a shaking eyebrow.

Alex's smirk disappeared. He shook his head. "We do have the power. We're not fooling them in any way."

"But," Ian put his index finger up in the air to get Alex's attention. "we can't blow up the entire world. Not only is that impossible, but insanely stupid. We would be killed. That's just idiotic."

Alex groaned impatiently and said, "If we don't get what we want, the US is going to say goodbye to its closet companion – Australia. The second richest country in the world, right behind Switzerland."

"What?" Riley asked, shocked. "What are we?"

"We're number 6." Ian told him.

Alex groaned again. "Well, not Australia, at least Darwin to Brisbane, if we're successful. That's as big as it will get. But, if we're lucky, they'll get a little scared when we threaten to blow up another major city."

Riley turned to Ian, glaring at him. "You're crazy if you're going to go along with his sick little plan, Ian! You know that!"

Yes, Ian knew that, but he couldn't stop Alex. No one can ever stop _the_ 'Alexander Poole'.

Alex leaped next to Ian and slapped Riley. He slapped him so hard that he got thrown out of the chair (the ropes became untied around his ankles) and skidded against the wall.

"You're crazy if you think you can stop me!" Alex laughed evilly, walking over to the stone proudly.

Riley tried to get up a few times, but failed. His legs were so ingured from rocking out of the chair that they were still weak. Ian, out of pure sympathy, helped him up.

"Take him out the back."

"What?" Ian snapped, shocked.

Alex sighed, talking slower, like you would to a six month old baby. "_Take my brother outside and shoot him_."

"_What?!_" Riley choked. "Alex!"

"W-wait, Alex! We could use him! He could hack us into the base."

"What?" Alex snarled, stepping toward the older British man.

"Am I not smart enough for you, Mr Howe?" Alex asked, sounding like an obsessed (oops, did I say obsessed? I meant passionate!), over-attached girlfriend.

Ian had to admit, Alex scared the crap out of him. Not in a terrified way, but in a creeped out way. He as just… not sociable. He was crazy, to say the least!

"No, no, not at all! You're the strength in this. We need you! But…"

"But?"

"We need the brains. Both of us won't be able to hack into the base, but Riley can easily."

"Hm, I suppose you're right." Alex sighed, not sounding very convincing. He then smirked. "But I was actually looking forward to killing a few thousand people." His evil smirk made shivers go down Ian's spine.

Ian rephrased that last thought in his head. Alex wasn't crazy, not at all. He was much more than that! He was a brutal psychopath! He was starting to actually like Riley, after seeing how much trouble his brother could be. At least Riley was _sane_!

Ian had no idea how to get out of the mess he had caused.


End file.
